Tag Archives: schlimmbesserung

This Is the Greatest German Word Ever

Posted on September 17, 2016 by Campaign Outsider

German words are a hoot. So many of them are like little balls of aluminum foil all jammed together. But you can have your schadenfreude and your schlimmbesserung – we’ll take this beauty from Thursday’s Wall Street Journal A-Hed. Here’s a … Continue reading →

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NYT Forgottenfreude

Posted on October 15, 2013 by Campaign Outsider

Very clever piece by Ben Schott in Sunday’s New York Times about “the German language’s ability to express the inexpressible” by jamming words together like aluminum-foil balls. Close up: But Schott missed one. Namely, Schlimmbesserung. New Scientist says ‘Schlimmbesserung’ is … Continue reading →

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That’s Just So Mean! (“Ecce Homo” Fresco Edition)

Posted on August 25, 2012 by Campaign Outsider

From our The Road to Hellish Art Is Paved with Good Intentions desk The Germans have a term – schlimmbesserung – which means “to make worse by supposedly improving.” Exhibit Umpteen, via yesterday’s New York Times: Despite Good Intentions, A … Continue reading →

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